The Detroit Free Press published a stunning refutation of comments by "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert, who took aim at Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon during a recent monologue.
Last Wednesday, Colbert pummeled Dixon for sounding the alarm during the Oct. 25 gubernatorial debate on "pornographic" material being found in school libraries across Michigan.
"Dixon's not the only one worried about this issue. So is this guy she totally made up," Colbert told his viewers.
Colbert then played a clip of Dixon saying, "I had a gentleman come up to me just a few nights ago and he said, ‘I found content in my school library describing how to have sex to my son.’"
"Okay, fine, ‘that happened,’" Colbert quipped using air quotes.
Except that did happen, according to the Free Press.
"A Dearborn resident whose existence was doubted by comedian Stephen Colbert during a monologue last week has a message for the CBS late night host: I am real and so is my switch to the Republican Party," Free Press reporter Niraj Warikoo began his report Wednesday.
Khalil Othman came forward as the man Dixon had referred to at a recent rally of hers he had attended.
"To claim that I'm not here, I don't exist, I'm not human, that's absolute ignorance," Othman told the paper. "If this person did his due diligence and start researching or has his team do a little bit of research of who's this person who attended Dixon's rally, they will be able to find my name right away easy on social media. Just Google it."
Othman, a father of five and a former Democratic candidate for state representative who migrated from Yemen nearly 20 years ago, had shared a video on Facebook of the comments he made at the Dixon event speaking out against sexually-explicit content found in school libraries.
"I am a proud Muslim American who expresses my values and concerns all the time," Othman said in the video. "Dearborn has been voting Democrat blue for the last decade or two decades. But not anymore. On behalf of myself and my family, I guarantee you for sure that my family and my friends will vote for Republicans."
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Dixon knocked Colbert's comments at an event on Sunday, telling supporters, "That's what he said, this story never happened. That's where the Democrats are right now. You don't exist, your stories are not important."
CBS did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
The Michigan gubernatorial race has tightened in recent weeks. According the RealClearPolitics average of polls, incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a 3.4 lead over Dixon.
Fox News' final Power Rankings has the Michigan governor's race labeled "Lean Democrat."
Whitmer, who many thought would sail through reelection, is not taking anything for granted as top Democrats like former President Obama and Vice President Harris have campaigned alongside her in recent weeks hoping to motivate voters.
